Robert Plunket’s 1983 novel, “My Search for Warren Harding,” was out of print for decades — but remained stealthily influential. Its reissue has catapulted him out of retirement. Read more
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On Petri’s deranged timeline, John and Abigail Adams try sexting, the March sisters from Little Women are sixty feet tall, and Susan Sontag goes to summer camp. Nearly eighty short, hilarious pieces span centuries of American history and culture. Ayn Rand rewrites The Little Engine That Could. Nikola Tesla’s friends stage an intervention when he falls in love with a pigeon. The characters from Sesame Street invade Normandy. And Mark Twain–who famously said reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated–offers a detailed account of his undeath, in which he becomes a zombie. Read more
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Based on the best-selling collection by Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things follows Clare (Kathryn Hahn) a writer who becomes a revered advice columnist while her own life is falling apart. Watch trailer
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“Reading this book reminded me of watching a cat lick a dog’s eye goo.” Read more
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Founded in 1982 at San Jose State University in California, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest challenges entrants to compose opening sentences to the worst of all possible novels. Read more
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Fleishman Is In Trouble is the story of recently divorced 41-year-old “Toby Fleishman” (Jesse Eisenberg), who dives into the brave new world of app-based dating with the kind of success he never had dating in his youth. But just at the start of his first summer of sexual freedom, his ex-wife disappears, leaving him with the kids and no hint of where she is or whether she plans to return. Watch trailer
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The ceremony for the Mark Twain Prize, one of comedy’s top honors, celebrated Mr. Stewart’s achievements on “The Daily Show” and his activism on behalf of veterans and 9/11 emergency workers. Read more
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Ginder aces the small stuff: sparkling dialogue, hilarious supporting characters (Greta’s roommates!), whimsically named establishments—a doggy day care is BowHaus … He also aces the big stuff, characteristically insightful on sibling and parent-child relationships and politically on message. Read more
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Brad Leithauser Considers the Comedy of Verse. Read more
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